Sherwoods

LATEST ARTICLES ( 625 )

• Our First Hike

  

  One of the really great things about Tajikistan is the hiking. When we were here the first time, we did a lot of hiking. I love being outside, and I love... Read more

  Posted on 02 November 2025 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

  

  This week Elizabeth turned six. She has been waiting to turn six for quite a long time, and has been counting down the months since this summer, the weeks... Read more

  Posted on 26 October 2025 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Using My Russian Skills

  A decade ago, I started the long and difficult process of learning Russian. We were living in Dushanbe the first time, and had already lived in Azerbaijan... Read more

  Posted on 19 October 2025 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Barricade Runner

  This week Vladimir Putin came to town. He comes to Dushanbe from time to time, but according to Brandon, there are various levels of visits with various... Read more

  Posted on 19 October 2025 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Skip Ahead a Few Years

  

  I have let this blog lapse over the past few years. Writing in it had become a chore, I had become lazy, and it was easy to stop. Read more

  Posted on 21 September 2025 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Summer Bedtimes

  Astana is, by far, the most northern place we've ever lived. Brandon and I have, surprisingly, spent a lot of our marriage hanging out around 40 degrees... Read more

  Posted on 11 June 2023 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Spring, the Best and Worst Season

  Spring has finally arrived in Astana. The nights are above freezing, and all of the trees have started leafing out. We have our windows open all the time,... Read more

  Posted on 07 May 2023 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Edwin Wins the Prize

  There are certain milestones that come with parenting. Some milestones are good ones - first smile, first piano recital, first day of school. Read more

  Posted on 30 April 2023 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Thailand

  

  This year for spring break, we went to Thailand. We've enjoyed our spring break trips for the past two years, and so I've decided to make it a family tradition. Read more

  Posted on 02 April 2023 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Halfway Done With Winter

  We are now halfway through our first winter here in Astana. I have been afraid of winter ever since we got this assignment back in 2021, so it's a bit of a... Read more

  Posted on 29 January 2023 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Paris

  

  When my aunt and Uncle visited Uzbekistan last April, I took the three oldest children with for an overnight trip to Khiva with our visitors. Read more

  Posted on 15 January 2023 FAMILY, PARENTING

• First Impressions of Winter

  Winter in Astana is a serious thing. When we would talk about various places we could live in, Astana was in my bottom five, along with Nigeria and New Guinea... Read more

  Posted on 04 December 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Eagle Hunting

  

  This past Saturday we got to go on a little trip out of town to see some traditional Kazakh activities. Kazakhs are very proud of their nomad heritage and we... Read more

  Posted on 18 September 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Canning Day

  

  I am, generally, not a big canner. I learned how to can from my mother, who grew up canning. When I was a child, we would have various days - applesauce day,... Read more

  Posted on 04 September 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Stuff!

  

  On Tuesday, our stuff finally arrived from Tashkent. I'm not quite sure how it took five weeks to travel 1000 miles, which averages out to 28 miles a day, but... Read more

  Posted on 28 August 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Hello, Fall!

  When we decided to come to Nur-Sultan, we knew that it would be cold. It is, after all, the second coldest capital city in the world. Once November hits, the... Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Sweet Sixteen

  

  This week, Kathleen turned sixteen. It seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was dropped into the crazy, sleep-deprived world of being a new parent. Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Hello, Kazakhstan!

  We have now been in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan for seventeen days now and everyone is fairly settled in. Kazakhstan is the biggest -stan country in Central Asia,... Read more

  Posted on 07 August 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Farewell, Tashkent

  Tomorrow morning, a team of movers will show up at our house to pack everything we own in a flurry of paper, boxes and tape. I've spent the last week preparing... Read more

  Posted on 17 July 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING

• Happy Birthday, Sophia!

  

  Sophia's birthday was also back in May, but we didn't celebrate it in May either. She wanted to wait and celebrate it with her grandparents. Read more

  Posted on 13 June 2022 FAMILY, PARENTING